FSFE Newsletter - February 2016

on 2016-01-28

FSFE turns 15

In 2016, the Free Software Foundation Europe is looking forward towards
an exciting year. This is the year when we are celebrating our 15th birthday
and that will give us the chance to look back, to see and show how your
support brought us here. However, we are also looking forward to mastering
the challenges ahead.

Document
Freedom Day is given into the hands of the Digital Freedom Foundation

Half as old as the FSFE is our Document Freedom Day campaign, celebrated
for the first time in
2008 to oppose the adoption of Microsoft's OOXML standard - and then
turned itself into an annual day to celebrate Open Standards. During the
years we had hundreds events all over the globe, we have seen impressive
artwork, inspiring comics and videos and we have seen political parties,
companies and non-profit organisations using Document Freedom Day to let
the world know about the power and freedom of interoperability.

MEPs vote for
more Free Software in public sector

On 19 January, the European Parliament adopted in Plenary its
own-initiative report "Towards a Digital Single Market" prepared by the
co-rapporteurs Kaja Kallas (ALDE) from the Industry, Research and Energy
Committee (ITRE) and Evelyne Gebhardt (S&D) from Internal Market and
Consumers Protection Committee (IMCO). The FSFE's policy team has amended
the draft report and is pleased to see that the final version adopted in
the Plenary includes several positive statements concerning Free Software.

In particular, the report urges the European Commission and the Council
of the EU to increase the share of Free Software and its reuse in public
administrations as a solution to increase interoperability. The report
also promotes the security advantages of Free Software, and calls the EU
to commit to the increased use of Free Software in educational establishments
and public administrations. We hope that the European Commission will
follow the example of the Parliament and will implement the recommendations
to increase the use of Free Software in public sector.

Take Action

As every year, we will have a booth at FOSDEM and a lot of members
of our community will give talks or come to listen to talks. It is one of
the best chances throughout the year to meet many people from the FSFE.

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About FSFE

Free Software Foundation Europe is a charity that empowers users to
control technology.

Software is deeply involved in all aspects of our lives. It is important
that this technology empowers rather than restricts us. Free Software
gives everybody the rights to use, understand, adapt and share software.
These rights help support other fundamental rights like freedom of
speech, freedom of press and privacy.

Donate

The Free Software Foundation Europe is a non-profit non-governmental
organisation. Our work is made
possible by a community of
volunteers,
Fellows and
donors. Your donations are critical to our
strength and autonomy. They enable us to continue working for Free
Software wherever necessary, and to be an independent voice.